Calling out this exclusivity is the first step in dismantling the hierarchy and promoting body neutrality instead.No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Though some creators are already challenging these disparities, it’s exhausting for people outside the “norm” to constantly have to fight to fit within the trends or exist outside of them. These preferences and their harmful effects persist when we bring back old trends without stretching their boundaries to include all body types. Trying to fit into these rigid body standards routinely hurts young people’s self-image. People of all sizes can struggle with body image issues, but the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic’s revival – along with the preserved ‘Tumblr girl’ stereotypes – shows that trends have traditionally prioritized smaller bodies. While the trends will inevitably shift from 2014 Tumblr to whichever style grabs the attention of young people next, the implications of this era and it’s resurgence will remain. This need for control combined with the aesthetic’s negative impact on body image could contribute to an upsurge in eating disorders – which we already know have been increasing during the pandemic. When life events feel unpredictable, people may cling for something tangible, like weight or appearance, to have control over. Helplessness, especially when coupled with the specific 2014 Tumblr nostalgia, can be a risky mindset as it is a common underlying factor in the development of eating disorders. But like times of crisis can make us pine for the past, anxiety and hopelessness can arise as our experiences feel out of our immediate control. We experience nostalgia in times of crisis (like an ongoing pandemic), and tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses.
Highlight reels of 2014 Tumblr posted on TikTok make me reminisce about the past, but what I often forget is how my own body image issues throughout adolescence and young adulthood were at first rooted in my desire to look more like the people idealized online – my need to shrink myself. When late Gen-Zers say, “ I wish I was a teen in 2014,” they’re overlooking the reality of their words. To me, this suggests that it’s revival isn’t just rooted in nostalgia for our youth, but is tied to the romanticization of the ‘Tumblr girl’ stereotypes. While those of us who were teenagers in 2014 may look back and feel nostalgia over the grunge Tumblr aesthetic, late Gen-Zers - the main group behind it’s return - weren’t there to live through it. Last August, G-Eazy came out with a follow up track to his 2014 song “ Tumblr Girls,” which is best recognized by its opening lyrics, “ I’m in love with these Tumblr girls / With skinny waists and drug habits.” The new single “Running Wild (Tumblr Girls 2)” reuses his infamous first verse as the bridge the repetition of the “skinny waist” description continues the stereotype that only thin people can fit the aesthetic. This revival doesn’t just exist within the confinements of TikTok, but is happening in the larger pop-culture world as well. The frequent appearance of glamorized Tumblr content on TikTok could promote unhealthy behaviors by strengthening the idea of a “perfect,” yet often unattainable, body. When messaging centered around thinness is hard to avoid, values that wrongfully prefer smaller bodies can begin to seep into one’s own belief system and damage an individual’s self-image. Similarly, content surrounding the hopeful nostalgia for 2014 Tumblr’s aesthetic can easily overtake one’s feed. Algorithms generate posts based on what users interact with most, so once an individual engages with a video that promotes unhealthy body image or habits, it keeps returning.
Glamorizing this era of Tumblr seemingly indicates the continued prioritization of smaller bodies in today’s body standards, even as a new generation of young people visit these styles.Īnd, some weight-focused content on current social media feels inescapable. Despite cultural shifts increasingly pushing self-love in mainstream media, fatphobia and persisting beauty standards continuously dominated the online space. Loopholes, such as misspelling the word or formulating new hashtags with code-words, allowed the content to remain accessible through other means. However, that didn’t stop these communities from populating the sites. Thinspo became so widespread early on that Tumblr, along with Instagram and Pinterest, banned the hashtag in April 2012.
#Tumblr girl crying how to#
Not having a thigh gap like those celebrated on Tumblr was a cause of insecurity for many, and in pursuing the look on Tumblr, many young people turned to “thinspo” - or inspiration on how to be skinnier. It wasn’t necessarily a pursuit of how edgy you could look in your black tights, but the competition of how well your clothes accentuated your thigh gap. The focus of 2014 Tumblr fashion hardly fell on the clothes themselves, but more so on the body behind them.
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